Upstairs, soone silently watched the pair sitting closely together. It was Henry.
His hands gripped the white railing as his heart raced. Now he felt like he was truly sick, maybe even going mad. Just seeing her back or hearing her voice was enough to drive him insane, to make him lose control!
Tonight was supposed to be a joyous housewarming, but he couldn’t go near her.
Because standing by Ella’s side was always Eric.
The banquet was about to start. Ella woke up, having only napped for about ten minutes, but she was already feeling lively and refreshed.
At that mont, Mrs. Taylor approached, and Ella quickly walked over to greet her. This Mrs. Taylor had shown her genuine care since her rebirth, and Ella had co to regard her as a true friend.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Mrs. Taylor held Ella’s hand, smiling warmly. "Ella, I can’t believe how much you’ve blossod in just two short years. You’ve grown so much!"
Ella smiled. "It’s all thanks to your care, Mrs. Taylor. I wouldn’t have grown up so happily without it!"
Eric suddenly felt a bit hurt by Ella’s words. Wasn’t it him who had always been looking after her?
Ella didn’t notice the dark expression that had crossed soone’s face, but she did see Rachel and Connor coming down the stairs together.
"Oh, Mrs. Taylor, you’re here too? What a pleasure!" Rachel hurried over, her tone eager, like a puppy seeking attention.
Several other society ladies had accompanied Mrs. Taylor, all of whom had good relations with Grace.
"And you are...?" Mrs. Taylor raised an eyebrow, trying to place Rachel. Rachel quickly smiled politely and said, "I’m Rachel, the server from the charity event at the L Hotel. Mrs. Taylor, you don’t rember ?"
Ella smiled faintly. Rachel, despite her less privileged background, knew how to ingratiate herself with high society. Whenever Rachel had free ti, she would seek out jobs at prestigious venues to increase her inco and et influential people. It was a win-win situation for her.
Mrs. Taylor smiled, a trace of mockery flashing in her eyes. "Sorry, there are just so many servers. I can’t rember all of them."
Rachel’s face twitched awkwardly, but she quickly shook her head, pretending not to mind. "Oh, it’s no problem! Important people like you tend to forget the little things."
"Oh please, you’re just a lowly server. Trying to climb the social ladder isn’t as easy as flattering people!" One of the other ladies, disgusted by Rachel’s behavior, couldn’t hold back and spoke directly.
Rachel’s expression was quite the spectacle, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Haha, I’m really sorry, I guess I just don’t know how to speak properly!" she said with forced humility.
Ella found the situation amusing. Rachel was always trying to cozy up to the upper class, but they clearly had no interest in her.
At that mont, Mrs. Taylor’s sharp eyes caught sight of the sapphire necklace around Rachel’s neck. She chuckled lightly. "Well, Miss White, your boyfriend must treat you well. That sapphire necklace must be worth at least a hundred thousand, right?"
Rachel froze, looking down at the sapphire necklace around her neck. She was montarily stunned.
She distinctly rembered not wearing any necklace. After all, she was poor and had to be very frugal with her living expenses. If Leah hadn’t sponsored her, she wouldn’t even have been able to afford the dress she was wearing for the banquet.
No wonder she had felt sothing strange when she woke up earlier, but she hadn’t noticed the necklace at the ti because she was still groggy.
"Exactly! Such a beautiful sapphire must be worth over a hundred thousand. Miss White has definitely climbed the social ladder!"
"Miss White is quite good-looking, she certainly has the assets for it!" Several other ladies around began to laugh as well.
Rachel instinctively turned to look behind her, wanting to ask how the necklace had ended up around her neck. After all, she had fallen asleep in the guest lounge earlier. At the ti, only she and Connor had been in the room, and when she woke up, her clothes were still perfectly neat, which had reassured her.
But when Rachel turned around, she realized that Connor had disappeared!
What was going on?
He had been standing right behind her just monts ago, so how had he vanished in the blink of an eye?
Rachel was filled with a growing sense of unease. At that mont, a servant rushed down the stairs, shouting loudly, "Stop the thief! There’s a thief!"
The room instantly fell silent as everyone turned to look at the panicked servant.
Grace’s expression changed slightly. She was frustrated that the servant, with her poor manners and lack of decorum, was causing such a scene at an event of this scale. This would surely lead to embarrassnt and gossip.
Rachel’s heart pounded in her chest. When she snapped out of her thoughts, she realized the servant had already rushed up to her. "She... she stole Madam’s sapphire necklace!"
Rachel froze, her hands and feet suddenly cold as ice.
Ella and Eric stood off to the side, watching her with cold, indifferent expressions.
Rachel had tried to fra Ella ti and ti again, but this ti, Ella wasn’t going to give her another chance. That man, Connor, had actually been working for Eric the whole ti!
Eric had intentionally let Connor be exposed in front of Leah to lure her into their trap, and Leah had then introduced Connor to Rachel without realizing she was playing right into their hands!
Grace and Jas hurried over. "What’s going on? Mrs. Moore, did you really see this young lady stealing sothing?"
Rachel’s face flushed bright red. She could feel the judgntal, mocking, and disdainful stares from everyone around her.
The servant nodded vigorously, her emotions running high. "After delivering drinks to the guests upstairs, I saw this lady coming out of Madam’s room. I was worried sothing might have been stolen, so I went in to check. To my horror, Madam’s jewelry box was sitting open on the vanity, and the sapphire necklace was missing!"
The servant had a good relationship with Grace, who had always treated her kindly and hidden her true nature well.
The servant was also familiar with the sapphire necklace, as Grace wore it often.
All eyes in the room now shifted to the sapphire necklace around Rachel’s neck.
"Isn’t that Mrs. Nelson’s necklace? I’m sure I’ve seen her wear it before!"
"Who would have thought that such a beautiful, seductive girl would turn out to be a thief?"
"Typical behavior for soone from a poor background. She’s just here for the party and took the opportunity to steal sothing!"
Terrified, Rachel quickly removed the necklace from her neck. "Mrs. Nelson, it wasn’t ... I didn’t steal it! I was hypnotized! The man who was with earlier is a hypnotist! He made go into the room and take it! Why else would I wear it openly after stealing it?"
Her words were t with a chorus of scoffs and mocking laughter. Hardly anyone believed that Connor was actually a hypnotist.
"She probably just thought no one would notice that the necklace looked like Mrs. Nelson’s, right? Did she really think she wouldn’t get caught?"
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